Tribunal upholds Grundy ban

Tribunal upholds Grundy ban - Yahoo7

Heath Grundy will miss Sydney's qualifying final against Adelaide after his one-week ban for striking Geelong's James Podsiadly was upheld by the AFL Tribunal.

Grundy hoped to have his charge downgraded from intentional to either reckless or unintentional, which would have meant just a warning for the 26-year-old defender.

But the AFL Tribunal denied Grundy's appeal on Tuesday, deciding the Swan did strike Podsiadly around the chin and neck region with his left elbow during Sydney's 34-point loss to Geelong on Saturday.

Grundy has been a key player for Sydney this season having played every game and would have been crucial to Swans coach John Longmire's plans to stop Adelaide's pair of key forwards, Taylor Walker and Kurt Tippett, in Saturday's qualifying final.